I’m actually freer than lots of people
I’m definitely free while I’m painting
My name is Wu Dacun, and I’m from Kaizhou, Chongqing
This is a village halfway up the mountain
Indeed I come here to avoid disturbing my family
And I can do what I like here
I have been like painting since childhood
And for the past a dozen years I continued doing it off and on
I majored in industrial design in college, jewelry
I didn’t like it
So I often skipped the class and stayed at the dormitory to paint
After graduation
I did all kinds of jobs
In Chongqing and Beijing
I did some crafting work in a furniture factory
I worked for short periods, and I was paid high
Everyone tends to live in a comfort zone
Then time flies and now I’m at my hometown again
I’m happy for eight months of a year
And I’m struggling for two months
Because I need to do something I hate for two months to make a living
Now the new semester is about to begin, and I have to pay the tuition for my child
So I need to make some money
Some people think I have no sense of responsibility and I’m a loser
The whole village only has a dozen households
Young people go out to work
And they never return here
I and my wife had a child one year after getting married
After I saw the B-mode ultrasound image of the baby
I had been painting it for a period
Flesh and blood
Really simple
It represents a father’s desire to see his child
And his anticipation of a new life
My child likes bright colors, such as red and green
I didn’t paint colorful things
But now I use bright colors occasionally
And I don’t paint things like guest-greeting pines
They don’t like what I want to sell
And I don’t want to sell what they like
I have a neighbor
The two of us live in the mountain
She’s a little lonely
I take my paintings to hang up on her walls
“How do you like my paintings?”
“They’re wonderful”
The brushes have been used for many years
They gradually become narrower and narrower
And even as sharp as a calligraphy brush pen
Frames are really expensive
I make them by myself
When I worked as a bridge builder, I collected some hard parts
To make frames
You like this painting very much
So you need to improve its form to complete it
And that is hanging it up on the wall
I used to go up to the mountain
To corners and bins
If I have an appropriate painting
I would hang it up
Generally people can’t see them
I satisfy myself
Four bottles of beer or half bottle of baijiu
Then it’s my tipsy moment
Take a glance at them
And take a picture
I take my daughter here often
Sometimes she takes pictures casually
That means something to me and I’m touched by it at the moment
It means she was interested in it for that second
Every day after dinner, I would ride with my wife and child
Taking them to see the sunset and feel the wind
I think that’s the best thing I’ve ever done
If you take your child to see more
She can feel the beauty directly
Freedom is everything
Stars in the sky are bigger than anyone
And brighter than anything
When other things turn dark
The stars can dazzle your eyes